The 15 spookiest moments in the Skywalker Saga

15. Look what you have made

Emperor Palpatine, with the exception of his appearances as a senator and then Supreme Chancellor, has always been one of the spookiest aspects of Star Wars. With his deformed face, yellow eyes, and cackling laugh, Palpatine seems like he walked straight out of a horror movie. And just when you thought he couldn’t look any creepier, he comes back from the dead in The Rise of Skywalker. But resurrected Palpatine is a rapidly decaying figure that should not be alive. He looks almost like a rotted corpse come back to life with his bony fingers barely covered in leathery skin and his face… have we mentioned his face yet?

When Kylo Ren comes upon Palpatine in the beginning of the film on Exegol, Palpatine is shrouded in darkness and shadows with the occasional flicker of light to illuminate his face and his dead glassed-over eyes. If Star Wars was originally created as a fairy tale for children, this scene might be the spookiest of the saga. Near the end of the film, Palpatine’s body is restored by draining Force power from Rey and Kylo because of their Force bond. He’s stronger, but his most striking feature is his glowing yellow eyes. He’s draped in black, the class dark lord archetype, and his sheer power is chilling. His ability to scare us with his appearance couldn’t get worse, right?

Rey, who was knocked to the ground helpless by Palpatine, finally musters the strength to get up from the ground after hearing the voices of all the Jedi before her. She faces Palpatine, who tries to strike her with his Force lighting. Using Luke and Leia’s lightsabers combined, however, she’s able to deflect his lighting back toward him, which, like a scene from a horror movie, causes his face to melt away before our eyes. Palpatine may be dead, but that image is sure to live on in Rey’s mind for the rest of her life.

Which Star Wars moment was the scariest to you? Let us know in the comments!